Early Life and Artistic Beginnings
Gabrielle Valerie Hyacinthe Hope was born in Lower Hutt on 4 February 1916. Her early years were spent on her family's farm near Putāruru, where she worked with cattle, helped with animal care, hay-making, and food preservation. This period of her life involved riding ponies to school and participating in agricultural and pastoral shows. After her family moved to Rotorua, she attended the Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland, graduating in 1932.
While living in Whitford, Gabrielle began to paint with watercolours more frequently. She studied life drawing with tutors including Archibald Fisher at the Elam School of Fine Arts. Her work often featured landscapes, still lives, portraits, and animals. During her time at Waiheke Island, many of her works captured the beach, its people, seagulls, pigeons, and landscapes.
Later Career and Techniques
Following the end of her marriage to Christopher Yeats, Gabrielle moved to Parnell, Auckland, where she worked part-time retouching and colouring photographs in a studio. She also hosted weekly life drawing sessions for the local Workers' Educational Association. Her exhibition history includes appearances with the Auckland Society of Arts and the Waikato Society of Arts.
After marrying Paul Hope in 1953, she moved to Forrest Hill and experimented with new materials including gouache, egg tempera, and Chinese brushes. Her subject matter expanded to include religious and philosophical themes such as Zen, Buddhism, and the tao of painting. In her work, she utilized techniques such as sgraffito, particularly in her 1953 painting Cattle at Rest. Gabrielle died in Howick on 9 September 1962.
